Derivation Blend #16
Side Project Brewing

 

Pours black with heavy oily legs. No foam or head formation. Aroma is heavy roasty and toasty malts with molasses, brownie batter, vanilla bean, maple syrup, and coffee (light) behind. The malts are firm and dark enough to keep the vanilla bean, brownie batter, and maple syrup from turning this beer remotely sugary sweet. That balance is further aided by barrel, which keeps this balanced closer to dark and heavy rather than syrupy sweet. Flavor profile stacks huge gobs of brownie batter over vanilla beans, maple syrup, molasses, and coffee over roasty and toasty malts. Barrel adds some depth and char. Absolutely huge profile, with each piece striking a delightful balance between potent and nuanced. Mouth feel is thick and full. It has a very light fuzzy texture, but is otherwise stamped out by the weight of the alcohol and barrel presence. Overall, just splendid. Coffee, maple syrup, and vanilla bean are wonderful additions that work to build in nuance and not just stamp out the base imperial stout and barrel notes. Despite the ABV, this thing drinks smooth.

Served from a bottle at The Cellar. Reviewed from notes.

 

 

Poured from a 750ml bottle into a snifter. Pours a thick, dense black with no head. Lot of bourbon, oak and chocolate upfront, yielding into a decadent vanilla / maple finish that's not overpowering. Rich chocolate and dark roasted coffee. Very well balanced, the beer tapdances on your palate. This is a world class stout.

 

Thanks again to a bar friend at the cellar for this pour. Pitch black shimmering oily body with a brown ring. Smell and taste both incorporate the coffee and maple but not in an obnoxious way, barrel and rugged chocolate base still lead. If anything, in the taste especially I found the additions to dull the earthy, roasty and char complexity a bit, has a kiss of vanilla on the finish. Feel is full, heavy, and barrel forward but not as much as other SP, very smooth though. Still a great stout, but not my favorite of the ones we tried

A kind patron of SP gave me half of his 750ml bottle for free, so cheers to him! Poured black with no discernible head. Smell is maple syrup and bourbon barrel. Smooth bourbon taste from the Willett barrel and sweet from the maple, with coffee bringing everything together. Altogether an excellent and well-crafted stout. I love maple stouts, but the price on this is steep so I probably wouldn’t have ordered. And now that I’ve had it I probably never will have it again. I’m thankful for the opportunity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Viscous pour, 55° with almost zero carbonation bubbles on the pour; viscous, and pitch black.

Breakfast stout nose; maple, roasty coffee beans, and a touch of rye spice (not sure if rye was part of the blend bill, but I was getting notes regardless).

Palate brings more of the same, however with the adjuncts taking a backseat and really letting the barrel shine. Notes of maple-drenched oak, boozy spice, and a strong finish of vanilla bean. I like that the coffee is present throughout, however at no point is it too in-your-face or tasting off in any way. With continued warmth, further complexity brings deep, rich notes of dark chocolate.

As expected, exceptionally smooth for the finishing ABV, with an ethanol warmth felt all the way down, and no residual bitterness.

poured from a 750mL bottle into a snifter. pours a thick, dense black with no head to speak of. a few bubbles line the edge of the pour meeting the glass. beer stains the glass as it’s consumed leaving shiny brown legs running down the snifter. decadent chocolate, fresh roasted dark coffee, bourbon-soaked oak and a hint of maple on the nose. it’s a lot of bourbon, oak and chocolate to me. not complaining this doesn’t have the huge coffee aroma of early CSV, OG BACSV or even D5 & 10. i don’t think it’s subdued; rather i think it’s that well integrated into the base imperial stouts and barrels. as it warms i get a little more maple and vanilla but i also get a lot more oak and bourbon. rich chocolate and dark roasted coffee (to the point of slight bitterness) on the taste with a sweet maple vanilla finish. the two really compliment (or even cut) each other with the vanilla adding the perfect touch on the finish. thick, full mouthfeel from start to finish. coats the mouth in a sticky maple glaze with a big punch of bourbon on the finish. not sure what else to say - this is incredible.